In my final year at school in 92', we did a questionnaire on a computer which would then recommend an ideal career path. Then we would get a conversation with the careers advisor who gave us the results.

Apparently I should have been a bin man or a shoe repair man.

18 years later and I'm a senior project manager at a tier 1 investment bank...my current responsibilities don't include refuse collection or shoe repair.

I think poor careers advice is why a lot of people end up unhappy in life...has careers advice improved in the last 18 years?

I think a lot of people are unhappy because they think they need a career and not a job. Mibbe I was lucky, but I just got a job after school then worked hard at getting better at it until another job came along, which I worked hard at, etc, etc. The only time I remember thinking about a "career" was when I turned down the chance of promotion because I had started to think that there was more to life than money and work.

In my final year at school in 92', we did a questionnaire on a computer which would then recommend an ideal career path. Then we would get a conversation with the careers advisor who gave us the results

I did that, for me it said Forest Ranger or Librarian, I have no idea to this day how two such different options could be come up with for the same person.

In my final year at school in 92', we did a questionnaire on a computer which would then recommend an ideal career path. Then we would get a conversation with the careers advisor who gave us the results.

Apparently I should have been a bin man or a shoe repair man.

18 years later and I'm a senior project manager at a tier 1 investment bank...my current responsibilities don't include refuse collection or shoe repair.

I think poor careers advice is why a lot of people end up unhappy in life...has careers advice improved in the last 18 years?

Poor school careers advice doesn't seem to have affected you. I don't know anyone who does what their careers advisor said they should. In fact I don't even remember what I was told, it was such an insignificant event in my life.

I wonder if anyone has ever been told by a careers advisor that they should be a careers advisor?

I love what I do in terms of my life, it's hard because of my health, but thanks to my bearing kits I get spare time, which I use to fix other peoples bikes and help out quite a few riders. Who don't have a lot of money.

Lots of bikes to work on and my friends are all great characters.

I wouldn't say my life is perfect and there are things I would like to have, but it could be so much worse and I consider it to be a simple but good life!

If anyone lives in the Edinburgh/lothians area and doeasn't have a lot of money, I would be happy to lend a hand with keeping you mobile.

In my final year at school in 92', we did a questionnaire on a computer which would then recommend an ideal career path. Then we would get a conversation with the careers advisor who gave us the results.

Apparently I should have been a bin man or a shoe repair man.

I think bin man came up for everyone, it certainly did for me and I remember the various discussions in the 6th Form Common Room afterwards about what a load of rubbish (pun intended) the whole thing was. I think mine actually suggested something science-y which is what I did for a while.

I'm sat on a dull conference call in a job I no longer enjoy, I've found lately that the negative effects of this have an impact on other aspects of my life. There's nothing worse than getting up in the morning and having to raise the enthusiasm to leave the house when I'd rather stay home and play with my kids!

On a brighter note I'm actively working on fixing the job issue, once that is done everything should be rosy again. The most important things to me are my family and friends, but a job you don't enjoy takes the shine off of other things.

I tend to agree, I think £35K is the "magical" figure or the "cut off point" so to speak.

Reach the £35k mark and life becomes much more pleasurable. I've found I now spend Sundays taking my much loved TVR out for a spin on the country lanes, rather than sitting at home watching Hollyoaks omnibus like most of the sub £35kers do. Hell, I can even afford to get the suspension on it tuned and serviced aswell, for £4k a pop!

I cant see how you could be classed as "doing well" if your on less than the big 35